Human trafficking in Lesotho
Encyclopedia
Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...

 is a source and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution
Forced prostitution
Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution, is the act of performing sexual activity in exchange for money on a non-voluntary basis. There are a wide range of entry routes into prostitution, ranging from "voluntary and deliberate" entry, "semi-voluntary" based on pressure of...

, and for men in forced labor. Women and children are subjected within Lesotho to involuntary domestic servitude
Involuntary servitude
Involuntary servitude is a United States legal and constitutional term for a person laboring against that person's will to benefit another, under some form of coercion other than the worker's financial needs...

 and children, to a lesser extent, to commercial sexual exploitation. Basotho
Basotho
The ancestors of the Sotho people have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century. The Sotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century...

 victims of transnational trafficking are most often taken to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Long-distance truck drivers offer to transport women and girls looking for legitimate employment in South Africa. En route, some of these women and girls are rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

d by the truck drivers, then later prostituted by the driver or an associate. Many men who migrate voluntarily to South Africa to work illegally in agriculture and mining become victims of labor trafficking. Victims work for weeks or months for no pay; just before their promised “pay day” the employers turn them over to authorities to be deported for immigration violations. Women and children are exploited in South Africa in involuntary domestic servitude and commercial sex, and some girls may still be brought to South Africa for forced marriage
Forced marriage
Forced marriage is a term used to describe a marriage in which one or both of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will...

s in remote villages. Some Basotho women who voluntarily migrate to South Africa seeking work in domestic service become victims of traffickers, who detain them in prison-like conditions and force them to engage in prostitution. Most internal and transnational traffickers operate through informal, loose associations and acquire victims from their families and neighbors. Chinese and reportedly Nigerian organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

 units, however, acquire some Basotho victims while transporting foreign victims through Lesotho to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

, where they “distribute” victims locally or move them overseas. Children who have lost at least one parent
AIDS orphan
An AIDS orphan is a child who became an orphan because one or both parents died from AIDS.In statistics from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS , the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund , the term is used for a child whose mother has died due to AIDS before...

 to HIV/AIDS are more vulnerable to traffickers’ manipulations; older children trying to feed their siblings are most likely to be lured by a trafficker’s fraudulent job offer.

The Government of Lesotho does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. While operating under severe resource constraints, the government formed an active multi-sectoral task force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...

, created a national plan of action, trained more officials to identify trafficking situations and victims, and raised public awareness. Despite these efforts, however, the government has shown no evidence of efforts to combat human trafficking through law enforcement activities, and protections for victims are still minimal; therefore, Lesotho is placed on Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year.

Prosecution

The government did not increase its law enforcement efforts during the past year, and no suspected trafficking offenders were identified during the reporting period. Lesotho has no comprehensive anti-trafficking law, which hinders the government’s ability to address human trafficking. Lesotho does not prohibit all forms of trafficking in persons, though its Constitution prohibits slavery, servitude, and forced labor. The Child Protection Act of 1980, the Sexual Offenses Act of 2003, the Common Law, and the Labor Code Order of 1981, as amended, prescribe sufficiently stringent penalties of at least five years’ imprisonment for crimes that could be used to prosecute trafficking offenses. The Child Protection and Welfare Bill, drafted in 2005, was approved by the Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

 in 2009 and is currently awaiting debate in Parliament
Parliament of Lesotho
The Parliament of Lesotho consists of two chambers:*The Senate *The National Assembly -External links:*****...

. It prohibits child trafficking and prescribes sufficiently stringent penalties of 20 years’ imprisonment for trafficking offenders. No current or draft laws specifically prohibit the trafficking of adults. The government did not provide official data on trafficking or trafficking-related prosecutions or convictions during the reporting period. The Multi-Sectoral Committee, an anti-trafficking task force, in partnership with a local NGO, arranged for and participated in three trafficking workshops. The session in October 2009 particularly targeted police and immigration officials, and focused on identifying trafficking offenders and their victims, as well as identifying laws that could be used to prosecute traffickers under Lesotho’s existing legal system. While officials opened no official investigations into trafficking activity in Lesotho, the Lesotho Mounted Police Service worked with South African police to investigate suspected trafficking cases in border areas. Each month, immigration officers at the Maseru
Maseru
Maseru is the capital of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, bordering South Africa, Maseru is Lesotho's only sizable city, with a population of approximately 227,880 . The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the...

 border post assisted approximately 20-30 victims of labor trafficking, usually men exploited in forced labor before being deported from South Africa. Law enforcement officers did not proactively identify victims among other vulnerable populations, such as women and children in prostitution, and most were not trained to identify victims they may encounter as part of their normal duties. There was no evidence of government involvement in or tolerance of trafficking on a local or institutional level.

Protection

The Lesotho government took minimal steps to protect victims of trafficking over the last year. Most officials did not proactively identify victims, and agencies have no formal mechanism for referring victims to service providers. Lesotho has no care facilities specifically for trafficking victims. Orphanages supported by the Government of Lesotho and NGOs are available to provide some services to children presumed to be victims of trafficking
Trafficking of children
Trafficking of children is a form of human trafficking. It is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receiving of children for the purpose of exploitation....

. Staff from the Child and Gender Protection Unit (CGPU) of the Lesotho Mounted Police Service provided counseling to women and children who were victims of abuse, including some they believe were trafficking victims. The government acknowledged the need for safe shelter for victims and included the need in its draft anti-trafficking national plan of action. Basotho law does not protect victims from prosecution or otherwise being penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked, nor does it provide foreign victims with legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they may face hardship or retribution.

Prevention

The Government of Lesotho clearly increased its efforts to prevent trafficking. The Multi-Sectoral Committee on Trafficking, which was formed in July 2009 and is composed of representatives of government ministries, NGOs, police, border security, the judicial system, UNDP, UNICEF, academia, and religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...

s met regularly and began working on a national plan of action. The action plan was nearly complete in early 2010. The government requested and received funding from UNDP to research trafficking in Lesotho; the Ministry of Home Affairs is expected to make the final report available in mid-2010. Authorities conducted several high-visibility information campaigns during the past year, spurring a sharp rise in the number of news reports about human trafficking. Campaigns run in partnership with the Government of South Africa
Government of South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a constitutional democracy with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a nearly unique system that combines aspects of parliamentary and presidential systems. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa...

 targeted large border towns where trafficking is likely more prevalent. The CGPU and partners in local communities conducted awareness workshops, and trained other officers in the Lesotho Mounted Police on victim awareness and identification. UNICEF helped the CGPU to distribute educational materials on human trafficking. The Minister of Home Affairs presided over the launch of an NGO’s Red Light 2010 Campaign, which addressed sex trafficking in the context of the World Cup in South Africa in June 2010. As part of national campaigns against gender-based violence, child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...

, and human trafficking, the government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.
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